[Federal Register: July 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 133)]
[Notices]
[Page 38069]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12jy07-41]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement To Evaluate Construction of Authorized Improvements to the
Federal Pascagoula Harbor Navigation Project in Jackson County, MS
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice of availability announces the public release of
the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) to
evaluate construction of authorized improvements to the Federal
Pascagoula Harbor Navigation Project in Jackson County, MS. The Mobile
District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published in the Federal
Register, June 14, 2006, (71 FR 34320) a Notice of Intent to Prepare a
DSEIS to address the potential impacts associated with construction of
authorized improvements to the Federal Pascagoula Harbor Navigation
Project in Jackson County, MS. The DSIES was used as a basis to ensure
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and for
evaluating the following two alternative plans: ``No Action'' and
deepening the federally authorized project from 38 feet to 42 feet deep
in the Upper Pascagoula channel, deepening the Horn Island Impoundment
Basin from 44 feet to 56 feet, and widening the Gulf Entrance Channel
from 450 feet to 550 feet wide. Pascagoula Harbor is authorized to (a)
An entrance channel 44 deep and 550 feet wide from the Gulf of Mexico
to Horn Island Pass, a channel 44 feet deep and 600 feet wide through
Horn Island Pass, including a sediment trap situated on the east side
of the channel 1,500 feet long, 56 feet deep, and 175 feet wide; (b) A
channel 42 feet deep and 350 feet wide in Mississippi Sound and the
Pascagoula River to the railroad bridge at Pascagoula, including a
turning basin 2,000 feet long and 950 feet wide (including the channel
area) on the west side of the river below the railroad bridge; (c) A
channel 42 feet deep throughout and 350 feet wide from the ship channel
in Mississippi Sound to the 1,150-foot turning basin at the mouth of
Bayou Casotte, then 350 feet wide for about one mile to the northern
turning basin, 900 feet wide and 1,750 feet long; (d) A channel 22 feet
deep and 150 feet wide up Pascagoula River from the railroad bridge to
the mouth of Escatawpa River (Dog River), thence up the Escatawpa River
to the Highway 613 Bridge; (e) A channel 12 feet deep and 125 feet wide
from the Highway 613 Bridge, via Robertson and Bounds Lakes to mile 6.0
on the Escatawpa River; and (f) A channel 12 feet deep by 80 feet
extending from deep water in the Pascagoula River to a turning basin in
Krebs Lake a distance of about 1,500 feet, then along the south bank of
the lake a channel 10 feet deep and 60 feet wide, terminating at a
second turning basin, a distance of 2,700 feet from the first. The
tentatively recommended alternative includes construction of the
authorized project dimensions.
DATES: The public comment period for the DSEIS will extend through
August 27, 2007.
ADDRESSES: To receive a copy of the DSEIS, or to submit comments,
contact U.S. Army of Engineers, Mobile District, Coastal Environment
Team, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001. A copy of the full document
may also be viewed in the Mobile Public Library (Main Branch) or in the
Mobile District.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action
and the DSEIS should be addressed to Ms. Jennifer L. Jacobson, Chief,
Coastal Environment Team, phone (251) 690-2724, Mobile District, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628 or e-mail
address: jennifer.l.jacobson@sam.usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public comments can be submitted through a
variety of methods. Written comments may be submitted to the Corps by
mail, facsimile, or electronic methods. Additional comments (written or
oral) may be presented at the public hearing on August 7, 2007 at the
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College at the Jackson County Campus,
Administration Building, 2300 Highway 90, Gautier, MS. Additional
information on the public hearing will be mailed in a public notice to
the agencies and public and announced in news releases.
Dated: June 29, 2007.
Curtis M. Flakes,
Chief, Planning and Environmental Division.
[FR Doc. 07-3393 Filed 7-11-07; 8:45 am]
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